I agree that Ennis is the team's best center, but his game doesn't fit with Vanek at all. Vanek is better when he's the primary catalyst of a line. You have to allow Thomas Vanek to be more than just a sniper, because he's truly a complete player.
A lot is made of how many different ways Thomas Vanek is capable of scoring, very little is made of the different ways Thomas Vanek can set people up. Give him hard working guys who go to the net and ice time and this is exactly what I've thought would happen for years, Vanek's vindicating everything a lot of us see when we watched him play. Hodgson isn't a perfect player yet, but he does have skill and he is willing to go to dirty areas to make a play. He's far and away the best fit to center Vanek on this roster right now.
Tyler Ennis creates offense primarily with his skating, he's another guy that's most effective when he's holding the puck and finding his own space. He can be frustrating with the turnovers but most of it is him working really hard and trying to make plays. If given the right matchups (this is helped by Vanek dominating on a separate line) he's also very capable of taking over a game. At 23 he's just an endlessly exciting player because I see real progress with him as he's matured... I think the best is yet to come.
The wildcard with this whole line of thinking? Grigs.
Grigorenko's vision is already showing some of the flashes I see from Vanek... if he ever develops into a #1 center it would have the potential to be Lafontaine/Mogilny all over again. 2 guys operating on a level few are capable of... but this is all theoretical and probably at least a year away from happening so I digress.
I don't think this team is very good right now, but I do think that's going to change as these guys mature... there's a lot of potential in this team.
oh and fire Lindy dammit, anybody who took 8 years to finally play Thomas Vanek in most situations deserves it.
I agree that Ennis is the team's best center, but his game doesn't fit with Vanek at all. Vanek is better when he's the primary catalyst of a line. You have to allow Thomas Vanek to be more than just a sniper, because he's truly a complete player.
A lot is made of how many different ways Thomas Vanek is capable of scoring, very little is made of the different ways Thomas Vanek can set people up. Give him hard working guys who go to the net and ice time and this is exactly what I've thought would happen for years, Vanek's vindicating everything a lot of us see when we watched him play. Hodgson isn't a perfect player yet, but he does have skill and he is willing to go to dirty areas to make a play. He's far and away the best fit to center Vanek on this roster right now.
Tyler Ennis creates offense primarily with his skating, he's another guy that's most effective when he's holding the puck and finding his own space. He can be frustrating with the turnovers but most of it is him working really hard and trying to make plays. If given the right matchups (this is helped by Vanek dominating on a separate line) he's also very capable of taking over a game. At 23 he's just an endlessly exciting player because I see real progress with him as he's matured... I think the best is yet to come.
The wildcard with this whole line of thinking? Grigs.
Grigorenko's vision is already showing some of the flashes I see from Vanek... if he ever develops into a #1 center it would have the potential to be Lafontaine/Mogilny all over again. 2 guys operating on a level few are capable of... but this is all theoretical and probably at least a year away from happening so I digress.
I don't think this team is very good right now, but I do think that's going to change as these guys mature... there's a lot of potential in this team.
oh and fire Lindy dammit, anybody who took 8 years to finally play Thomas Vanek in most situations deserves it.
It will be interesting to see how vanek can benefit from Poms & Hodgson when he falls back down to earth (point production wise).
At the moment, the first line works because Vanek is dominating and Pominville & Hodgson are passengers. I hope when vanek cools down (yeah, it will happen) Hodgson & Jpoms are able to carry that line too.
When I think of a "passenger," I think of a player who racks up secondary assists off of the top guy, which is not what Pominville and Hodgson are doing. All 3 are creating and finishing opportunities. Yes, Vanek is playing out of this world right now, but the other two aren't just out there skating in circles.
The difference between Adam and Cody? How about the fact Cody produced 40 points in his rookie season, even with being traded mid-season...
To compare the two is just laughable. Last season Vanek had 27 points in 24 games. Right now he has 21 in 10. It took him 17 games to reach 21 last year.
I don't think there is any question that Vanek has been a better player with CoHo manning the middle of the ice. There is a reason Vancouver fans were so high on him when he left.
I agree that Ennis is the team's best center, but his game doesn't fit with Vanek at all. Vanek is better when he's the primary catalyst of a line. You have to allow Thomas Vanek to be more than just a sniper, because he's truly a complete player.
I agree that Ennis is the team's best center, but his game doesn't fit with Vanek at all. Vanek is better when he's the primary catalyst of a line. You have to allow Thomas Vanek to be more than just a sniper, because he's truly a complete player.
A lot is made of how many different ways Thomas Vanek is capable of scoring, very little is made of the different ways Thomas Vanek can set people up. Give him hard working guys who go to the net and ice time and this is exactly what I've thought would happen for years, Vanek's vindicating everything a lot of us see when we watched him play. Hodgson isn't a perfect player yet, but he does have skill and he is willing to go to dirty areas to make a play. He's far and away the best fit to center Vanek on this roster right now.
Tyler Ennis creates offense primarily with his skating, he's another guy that's most effective when he's holding the puck and finding his own space. He can be frustrating with the turnovers but most of it is him working really hard and trying to make plays. If given the right matchups (this is helped by Vanek dominating on a separate line) he's also very capable of taking over a game. At 23 he's just an endlessly exciting player because I see real progress with him as he's matured... I think the best is yet to come.
The wildcard with this whole line of thinking? Grigs.
Grigorenko's vision is already showing some of the flashes I see from Vanek... if he ever develops into a #1 center it would have the potential to be Lafontaine/Mogilny all over again. 2 guys operating on a level few are capable of... but this is all theoretical and probably at least a year away from happening so I digress.
I don't think this team is very good right now, but I do think that's going to change as these guys mature... there's a lot of potential in this team.
oh and fire Lindy dammit, anybody who took 8 years to finally play Thomas Vanek in most situations deserves it.
I agree that Ennis is the team's best center, but his game doesn't fit with Vanek at all. Vanek is better when he's the primary catalyst of a line. You have to allow Thomas Vanek to be more than just a sniper, because he's truly a complete player.
A lot is made of how many different ways Thomas Vanek is capable of scoring, very little is made of the different ways Thomas Vanek can set people up. Give him hard working guys who go to the net and ice time and this is exactly what I've thought would happen for years, Vanek's vindicating everything a lot of us see when we watched him play. Hodgson isn't a perfect player yet, but he does have skill and he is willing to go to dirty areas to make a play. He's far and away the best fit to center Vanek on this roster right now.
Tyler Ennis creates offense primarily with his skating, he's another guy that's most effective when he's holding the puck and finding his own space. He can be frustrating with the turnovers but most of it is him working really hard and trying to make plays. If given the right matchups (this is helped by Vanek dominating on a separate line) he's also very capable of taking over a game. At 23 he's just an endlessly exciting player because I see real progress with him as he's matured... I think the best is yet to come.
The wildcard with this whole line of thinking? Grigs.
Grigorenko's vision is already showing some of the flashes I see from Vanek... if he ever develops into a #1 center it would have the potential to be Lafontaine/Mogilny all over again. 2 guys operating on a level few are capable of... but this is all theoretical and probably at least a year away from happening so I digress.
I don't think this team is very good right now, but I do think that's going to change as these guys mature... there's a lot of potential in this team.
oh and fire Lindy dammit, anybody who took 8 years to finally play Thomas Vanek in most situations deserves it.
I don't think it's even really debatable right now. They're tied for points despite Ennis getting more difficult minutes and not having the benefit of playing consistently on a line with the league's top forward and captain, and he's a plus while CoHo's a minus despite playing on that line, plus the fact that Ennis has had far more past success in this league despite being in the same draft year. I'm sorry, but you must have an agenda if you are going to have that opinion.
Ennis vs. CoHo is off topic, but the idea of Vanek succeeding with virtually any center seems legit. If Hodgson cleans up his act in his own end, I think he can be a legit, long term top 6 center. But as of right now, it feels like he's is to blame for as many goals against as he helps contribute for.
I don't think it's even really debatable right now. They're tied for points despite Ennis getting more difficult minutes and not having the benefit of playing consistently on a line with the league's top forward and captain, and he's a plus while CoHo's a minus despite playing on that line, plus the fact that Ennis has had far more past success in this league despite being in the same draft year. I'm sorry, but you must have an agenda if you are going to have that opinion.
Ennis vs. CoHo is off topic, but the idea of Vanek succeeding with virtually any center seems legit. If Hodgson cleans up his act in his own end, I think he can be a legit, long term top 6 center. But as of right now, it feels like he's is to blame for as many goals against as he helps contribute for.
Touche. But I hardly see that as an indictment. Stafford has 0 goals on 30 shots. That shooting percentage isn't sustainable.
Stafford's been bad, too. The difference is you don't see anyone claiming Stafford's the better winger over Pominville because he has more difficult minutes and Pominville only gets points because he's playing with Vanek.
